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No. 6I4.588. Patented Nov. 22,1898.

F. J. WIGH &. C. L. IRELAND.

L. m. IRELAND, Adminlatratrix of c. L. IRELAND, Dac'd. TBIMMING MECHANISM T PE MACHINES.

(Application Dec. 31, (No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet l.

WITNESSES. v INVENTZ RS Patented Nov. 22, I898. F. J. WICH & c. IRELAND.

L. M. IRELAND, Adminisiratrix of C. L. IRELAND; Decd.

TBIMMING MECHANISM FOR LINOTYPE MACHINES.

' (Application filed Dec. :31, 1897.) (No Model.)

2 Sheets-Shunt 2.

IIIIII.

W/ T/vEssE NITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

FERDINAND JOHN WICH, OF MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, AND LOTTIE M. IRELAND, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y., ADMINISTRATRIX OF CHARLES LEWIS IRELAND, DECEASED, ASSIGNORS TO THE MERGENTHALER LINOTYPE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TRIIVIMING MECHANISM FOR LINOTYPE-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 614,588, dated November 22, 1898.

Application filed December 31,1897. Serial No. 665,101. (No model.)

To aZZ-whom it may concern.-

Be it known that FERDINAND JOHN WICH, a subject-of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, England, and CHARLES LEWIS IRELAND, late a subject-of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and a resident of Manchester, in the county of Lancaster, England, but now deceased, invented certain new and to useful Improvements in the Trimming Mechanism of Linotype-Machines, (for which Letters Patent have been obtained in Great Britain and Ireland, No. 14,047, dated July 23, 1895,) of which invention the following is a full, clear, and exact specification, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, which are to be taken as part thereof and read therewith, and one which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to improvements in the trimming mechanism of linotype-machines and the object of it is to prevent loss and damage, to expedite work when the machine is engagedin producing linotypes, some of which begin with two-line capitals, and to effect such prevention and expedition by simpler mechanism and a more direct method than have hitherto been contemplated.

Those who are familiar with the machine production of linotypes or printing-bars are aware that there is a certain amount of trimming to be done to both their sides. The twoline capital at the head of a linotype has the lower half of it projecting beyond the adjacent side of the linotype, as shown in United States Letters Patent to Mergenthaler, dated December 24, 1895, No. 551,981. Such projection, therefore, renders the trimming of the sides of such linotype, by its being passed between a pair of parallel trimming-knives as long as itself, impracticable, for the reason that such passage would result in the said lower half of the capital being shorn off. To prevent such shearing off, it has been proposed to make the respective knife end capable of being moved out of the way before the advance of the twoline-capital linotype to the trimming mechanism and of being replaced in its normal position before the advance of the next normal linotype. One provision at present in use for so moving the said knife end out of the way is essentially of a type for hand manipulation only, and for that reason demands alert attention on the part of the mind, the eye, and the hand of the operator, or loss of time and material, damage to linotypes, and delayed output are more or less inevitable.

The details of the provision above mentioned will be found --in the specifications'of British Letters Patent N 0. 8,258 of 1894 and are as follows: The respective knife end is in a separate piece from the rest of the knife, but it is pivoted'thereto, so as to be capable of being turned by a winch-handle through a quarter of a circle, and thatin the plane of the whole knife. The pivot is so positioned that the tail of the knife endi. e., the piece of the latter on the side of the pivot opposite to the trimming edgestands after the winch-handle has been turned through the distance stated at a distance from the rest of the knife greater than the width of the projection of the two-line capital, thereby establishing a clear way for the passage of such projection but if the operator does not turn the winch-handle at the right moment the two-line-capital linotype will lose the said projection, and if he does not turn the winch-handle back in time the next normal linotype will be imperfectly trimmed. 7

Automatic means for preventing the abovementioned shearing off of the lower half of the capital have also been proposed.

The present invention consists in improved means for effecting (a) the automatic withdrawal of the knife in the direction of its edge, (12) the automatic introduction into the space so vacated of the lower half of the twoline capital, (0) the automatic return of the knife along its line of withdrawal, (d) the automatic stop action of the lower half of the two-line capital in respect of the knife, (6) the automatic restoration of the knife to its normal position, and (f) the disconnection of the withdrawing mechanism when the following linotype is a normal one.

It is well known that in the linotype-maerases chine the mold for the linotypes is a slot in a vertical mold-wheel; that the latter is carried on an axle which is part of the moldslide; that the latter is capable of horizontal motion up to and away from the casting position that the mold is advanced to the casting position against the matrices and withdrawn therefrom for a short distance after the casting operation; that the mold-wheel then makes a partial revolution, thereby bringing the mold and linotype in it opposite the ejector-blade; that the latter is moved forward into the mold and ejects the linotype and is then withdrawn therefrom, and that the mold-wheel then rotates into its normal position. Such being the operations of the mechanism with which the present invention must needs cooperate, we interpose a lever mechanism between the 1nold-slide or equivalent member and the knife in question. The mechanism which we prefer to use is the one illustrated in the accompanying figures,which are to be taken as part of this specification and read therewith. At the same time it must be distinctly understood that they do not limit the invention to the precise form and arrangement of parts herein shown and described, inasmuch as the invention includes any construction having essentially the same action as the parts herein shown.

Figure 1 is a side elevation from the right hand of the machine of the right-hand knifeblock, mold-wheel slide, and ejector-blade. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation taken along the line 2 2 of Fig. 1 after the knife has been pulled down. Fig. 3 is a plan of Fig. 1, corresponding with the dotted lines of the link and be1lcrank lever and including the mold-block and part of the m old-wheel, both in section. Fig. 4 is a plan of the right-hand knife and the knife-locking block.

A is the mold-wheel; l5,the mold-wheel slid e, which gives support to the wheel as usual; C, the ejector-blade, and D the trimming-block to which the trimming-knives are made fast. These parts are substantially the same as are described in the specification of British Letters Patent No. 14,582 of 1890. The mechanisrns for actuating the mold-wheel slide and the ejector-blade are both omitted from the figures, for the reason that they, as well as the members which they actuate, are outside the seope of the present invention.

E F are the two trimming-knives, and c f their cutting edges. They are made according to British Letters Patent No. 22,921 of 1894-41 a, with portions of the edge in advance of the remainder. Both knives are held to the rear face of the trimming-block parallel with each other and at the proper distance apart, as heretofore, for the passage of the linotype t and the ejector-blade O. The right-hand knife E is movable in the direction of its length, as and for the reason explained in the specification of Letters Patent No. 1,389 of 1895. This motion is a reciprocating vertical one and takes place in a guide J, which may be of any suitable constructiom The one illustrated is a block madefast to the rear face of the trim ming-block D.

j j j are headed pins or screws fast to the knife E and projecting horizontally to the right through vertical slots j j in the guideblock J, the length of the said slots being adjusted to the length of the above-mentioned motion of the knife E.

is a plate adapted to slide smoothly upon the right-hand face of the guide-block. It has all the pins j made fast to it, and, further, carries a stud j which is fast to it and projects laterally from it to the right hand.

7.: is a pin screwed into a forward extension of the trimming-block for the purpose of providing the fulcrum of a bell-crank lever. One arm is of the latter extends to the rear and rests upon the stud 7' The other and shorter arm 7.; stands up above the arm and has its outer end connnected by a link It to a stud 7c, projecting from the right side of the ejectorslide.

Z is a push-pin for locking the movable knife, adapted to move to and fro in a hori zontal bearing Z and cavity Z in the guide block J and the trimming-block D, respectively. It has a shoulder l fast on it and a spiral spring Z" surrounding its front portion and adapted by bearing against the front of the cavity Z to keep the shoulder Z up to the back of the block Jand the nose of the pin Z protruded as far to the rear as the length of the pin to the rear of the said shoulder permits of.

m is a block fast upon the pinlin a certain position thereonto wit, the one which will permit it to stand over the front right-hand corner of the knife E (supposing that were in its lower position) when the shoulder Z is up to the block J. (See Fig. 4.) This block is in fact a spring-actuated stop adapted to lock the knife E down in the said lower position.

it is a rearward projection from the knife E, so positioned and dimensioned as to stand over the lower half 2" of the two-line capital at the head of the linotype t at or during the first portion of the travel to the front of the mold-wheel A, as well as a little to the rear of and also a little to the right of the cutting, edge e of the knife E, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

0 is a returning-spring adapted to pull the knife E up again after its depression by the bell-crank lever above mentioned, and o a buffer-spring against the downward motion of the same knife, which motion reaches it through an upstandingthrust-pin o and a lever 0 the latter having its fulcrum at 0 intermediate of the pivoted connection 0, be tween it and the pin 0 on the one hand and the buffer-spring 0 on the other.

The action of the invention is as follows: The link 71: having been connected to the stud k immediately before the rearward motion of the mold-wheel slide B, the said motion pulls the knife E down into its lowest posi* tion, whereupon the locking-block m is made ICC IIO

to stand immediately over its front righthand corner, thereby locking it down. The rearward motion of the push-pin Z projects its nose as far to the rear as is necessary for it to be engaged by the mold-wheel at the proper moment for unlocking the block 7% from the knife E. After the cast the moldwheel A moves forward and engaging the nose of the push-pin Z pushes it into its socket forashort distance, asindicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3, but at the same time places the lower half 2' (part of the two-linecapital above mentioned) vertically over the projection it. The continued motion of the moldwheel to the front pushes the block m from off the knife E, which is then free to be raised to its normal position under the pull of the spring 0 as soon as the said portion a" has cleared the knife-top under the ejecting motion of the ejector-blade C.

What is claimed is 1. In a linotype-machine, the combination of movable knife, bell-crank lever, connection between it and the knife and a reciprocating part of the machine adapted to turn it on its fulcrum, and an automatic stop and knife-locking device as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a linotype-machine, the combination of movable trimming-knife, bell-crank lever, mold-Wheel slide, spring-protruded stop and knife-locking block, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a linotype=machine, the combination of a knife, movable endwise, a spring connec'' tion tending to move the same in one direction, means connected with a moving part of the machine to advance the knife against the motion of the spring, a locking device to hold the knife thus moved, and means for automatically unlocking the knife, substantially as described.

at. Inalinotype-machine,atrimming-knife, movable endwise, in combination with automatic means for moving the knife to its alternate positions, as successive linotypes are delivered.

In witness whereof I, the said FERDINAND JOHN WIOH, have hereunto affixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 3d day of February, 1897.

FERDINAND JOHN WIOI-IQ WVitnesses:

CHAS. S. WoonRoFFE, R031. A. BLAKE.

In Witness whereof I, the said LOTTIE MARY IRELAND, have hereunto affixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses, this 23d day of December, 1897.

I LOTTIE M. IRELAND, llclmimstratrix of the estate of Charles Lewis Ireland, deceased.

WVitnesses:

PHILIP T. DODGE, J. F. GEORGE. 

